1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image recording apparatus which records an image on a recording medium.
2. Discussion of Related Art
US 2006/0170727 A1 (corresponding to JP 2006-212863 A) (hereinafter, referred to as “Patent Document 1”) discloses an inkjet recording apparatus which includes a wiping device having an elastic blade that is located on one of opposite sides of an inkjet recording head that is vertically movable. In the inkjet recording apparatus, after the recording head is moved upward to a position where a vicinity of an edge of the elastic blade is contactable with the nozzle surface of the recording head, the wiping device is moved from the one of opposite sides of the recording head along the nozzle surface, so that the elastic blade wipes a nozzle surface of the inkjet recording head.
However, in the inkjet recording apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1, when a wiping operation begins, the elastic blade is moved from the one side of the recording head along the nozzle surface. Therefore, the elastic blade comes into contact with one of end portions of the nozzle surface, i.e., one of corners of the recording head every time the wiping operation is performed, so that the elastic blade is deteriorated at an early point.